Yoga, dogs, and mysteries… what could be more fun?

Tag Archives: VegFest

We had such a great time (as always) at VegFest this year that I wanted to share some photos with you. Enjoy, and come see us there next year!

I started the first day staffing the booth with the fabulous Katie West. Here we are, before sixteen hours of crowd surfing stole all of my beauty.

Soon the masses descended, filling the space with people ready for food and fun!

Of course no day would be complete without a visit from Ana Pup. I couldn’t convince anyone to let her come inside as my service dog, so we took a break and explored the rest of Seattle Center. Ana enjoyed playing with her stick. I enjoyed hanging out by the fountain.

Then I came back and split my time between talking about my mystery series and chatting with potential new yoga students.

By the second day, I was looking a little more weathered, so you’ll have to take my word for it that I was there. The fabulous Rene de los Santos can vouch for me.

Ana Pup came to visit again. This time she took me to the Space Needle. This is her saying, “Hurry up human! What are you waiting for?”

I finished the day by checking out the goat rescue booth. I will someday soon own goats myself. The husband unit disagrees.

After we’d packed up for the weekend, hubby and I went to the season finale of The Walking Dead at the Edmonds Theater. No photos included, as I resembled a few of the cast members too much for my comfort.

That’s all for now, but I hope you join us at VegFest next year. It’s always exhausting, lots of fun, and it offers all of the tasty vegetarian treats you can ask for!

Most of my yoga students know that I’m vegetarian. I rarely try to influence other people’s food choices, but this weekend I’ll be hanging out at Veg Fest at Seattle Center. So how can I not give a few reasons to go veg? Below are my top five reasons (and a bonus!) for being vegetarian in Seattle.

Vegetarianism is good for the planet. Seattleites are known for their dedication to the planet. We reduce, re-use, and recycle. We ban grocery bags. Seattle Kayaktivists keep “big oil” from parking in our harbors. So why aren’t more of us vegetarian? Livestock generates 40% more greenhouse gasses than all of the cars, trucks, and airplanes in the world—combined! So while you’re riding your bike and lamenting the evil petroleum-based cars on the road next to you, know that putting pedal to pavement is only the start. That roast beef sandwich you’re eating creates way more greenhouse gasses than your evil neighbor’s SUV. And if you’re worried about wasting water? It takes up to 15 times more water to produce an ounce of animal protein than it does to produce the same amount of plant protein. Honestly, I don’t understand how anyone can claim to be an environmentalist and still eat meat.

Going veggie is good for your health. The benefits of vegetarianism are well documented. Eating a plant-based diet helps prevent health issues ranging from obesity, to diabetes, to arthritis, to Multiple Sclerosis, to heart disease, to osteoporosis, to cancer. And you get way more vitamins from eating veggies than munching on Wilbur or Bessie.

Going veggie is good for animals. All of you paleo dieters out there might argue that a meat-based diet has some health benefits of its own. But who on earth can argue that eating animals is good for the animal you’re eating? Love Fluffy and Fido? Pigs are of much higher intelligence. Studies show that chickens may be smarter than cats and dogs (though Tasha would strongly disagree with that assertion.) Cows are down-right sweet. And who possibly couldn’t love a baby goat? The lives of most livestock animals are downright horrific. I won’t go into it here, because it makes me cry. But I grew up on a farm. I’ve seen the cruelty, even from people I love. Anyone who claims to love animals should seriously reconsider their food choices.

Seattle is blessed with abundant, delectable vegetarian restaurants. When I go home to Montana, I can’t even order green beans without finding bacon bits scattered within. Here in Seattle, vegetarian choices are everywhere. From vegan Thai restaurants like Arayas to entrees like my favorite black bean pita burger at the 74th Street Alehouse, I can almost always find abundant, delicious entrees at every Seattle restaurant. And if they don’t have veg choices on the menu, most places can create something special. Just ask!

Vegetarian grocery shopping is easy! From prepared mock meats to fresh vegetables, to canned food, to frozen vegetarian entrees. The vegetarian options at PCC, Whole Foods Market, even my favorite corner grocer, Ken’s Market, are nothing short of amazing! And the best news yet? You can sample many of those same foods this weekend at Veg Fest!

And a Bonus reason: I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 25 years—long before I took my first yoga class. My food choices have nothing to do with yoga philosophy. Still, yoga supports them. The Yoga teachings ask us to live with ahimsa–non-violence. For me, that means eating vegetarian.

For you?

One beauty of the yoga teachings is that they’re not prescriptive. They ask us to evaluate our own values and live by them. But I ask you to think about it. I mean REALLY think about it. Eating a plant-based diet doesn’t guarantee that you won’t act out in violence. But can you honestly say you live in ahimsa if an animal died for your mid-afternoon snack? I know I can’t.

Regardless of your food choices, I hope you’ll come see me this weekend at Veg Fest at Seattle Center. I’ll be there talking about Whole Life Yoga and my Downward Dog yoga and dog-related mystery series. (Which, by the way, has a vegetarian sleuth!) I’d love to see you and give you a hug. And there are hundreds of delicious food samples to try.